KINGSTON -- The smell of lemon greets you as you enter a small room on the third floor of the Kingston Sheraton Hotel.
“We squeeze them every day,” said Fred Coulsen, the headmaster of “Morning Class."
“Add a little gin in a glass and pour some fruit sugar, club soda and stir it up and there ya go.”
The pre-breakfast get together for fans of the Brier is known as the “Morning Class.” It happens daily from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m., as early morning drinking mixes with socializing ahead of a busy day on the curling sheet.
“It’s an education you can’t get anywhere else .. and you can learn as much or as little as you want,” said the 77-year-old Coulsen.
It’s a tradition that dates back to the Second World War where Canadian officer Colin Campbell gave early morning gin to his troops digging tunnels or munitions caves to boost morale.
Campbell became head of curling’s national body after the war, and at the 1948 Brier early morning drinks continued to celebrate the event.
“We start on the first Sunday and we carry through to Saturday,” said Coulsen.
“Meeting the people is what this is all about. We’ve been on Vancouver Island and we’ve been in Newfoundland, so we’ve covered it coast to coast over the years.”
With a gin in hand, a large table in the middle of the room greets you with low tech games.
Dan Herndier says it’s an education table, with an emphasis on education.
“We have different motor skills, math skills, all kinds of eye-hand coordination and different kinds of things that test your abilities.”
Herndier, who goes by the name Special Ed, adds “the whole idea is just to have a lot of fun while you’re donating to the gin table.”
Diane Buchan has been coming to "Morning Class" for the last 17 years, and says it’s all about the people.
“It’s so great to come every year and meet new people but also met the people that you haven’t seen for a year. It’s wonderful to comeback and see the friends that you met the year before.”
The "Morning Class" tradition continues throughout the Brier until Saturday, March 7 in Kingston.
